A Little Less Than Alright
by WhumpageLover
Summary: Tag to S4E19 Ku I Ka Pili Koko (Blood Brothers) Steve lies about not being hurt after the explosion and things take a turn for the worst.
1. Chapter 1

As Danny disappeared, being pulled out of the wreckage, by a rope and halter, so did Steve's adrenaline. As soon as Danny was safe, the halter came back for Steve. He slowly placed in around his body and pulled, motioning for the rescue team to pull him up. He could feel the rope grow tight, and then he was lifted off the ground. Steve stifled a groan as the halter added pressure to his aching ribs. His vest didn't help matters. After he had woken up and discovered his own injury, he had decided it was best to leave the vest on and focus on Danny's injuries first. Now, he was regretting that decision.

Bright sunlight cascaded over Steve's battered body. He squinted his eyes as rescuers pulled him to solid ground and removed the halter. Catherine pulled him into a hug. Steve buried his face in her and pushed aside all his pain. He had made it out of that hell hole and back into the arms of the woman he loved. When she released him, Kono and Chin took turns giving him a hug. He was glad for the vest now, it hid the blood that was slowly oozing out of his lower chest. Steve wondered away from the ruined building, to make sure that Danny was ok. He watched as Amber and Grace came running and crushed Danny in a hug. He smiled and gave them each a kiss on the forehead. Danny noticed Steve.

"Amber I would like you to meet, Steve." He put his hand out and shook her delicate hand.

"Nice to meet you." Grace shoved past Danny and gave Steve a hug. He bent to her level and felt something shift in his chest. He groaned and wrapped an arm protectively around his mid section. Danny was talking to Amber when he saw Steve hunched over in pain.

"Steve?" Grace had unshed tears in her eyes.

"Uncle Steve? What's wrong?" Danny placed a hand on Steve's back.

"I'm good." Steve stood slowly and shrugged off Danny's hand. "Just the adrenaline wearing off." Danny shot him a skeptical look. Catherine came walking over. She placed a hand on Steve's shoulder.

"Are you ok? It looked like you were hunched over in pain." Steve went to respond, but a cough erupted and a trickle of blood ran down Steve's chin. Steve's eyes grew wide.

"C-can't b-bre-breath."

"I'm going to take your vest off ok?" Catherine ripped the Velcro open and pulled the vest off. Catherine and Danny both gasped.

"Why didn't you tell me you were bleeding?" Danny had a hint of anger in his tone, but it was mainly full of concern. Danny turned and yelled for a paramedic.

"When need help over here, Officer Down!" Chin and Kono came running.

"What happened?"

"Mr. super SEAL over here, decided that is was not important to mention the fact that he was bleeding." Kono and Chin sent their boss a worried look.

"Can I take a look Steve?" Catherine's voice was calm. Steve, who was now leaning heavily on Chin, just nodded. Catherine pulled Steve's shirt up. "We need paramedics, NOW!" Kono took off running. Catherine turned back to Steve. "Hey, there is a piece of shrapnel in your chest, I need you to sit down." Chin and Catherine led Steve to a pill of ruble and had him sit. Steve's eyes were glazed over and unfocused. Kono returned with three paramedics in tow. Two went to Steve and one came to Danny. He tried to wave him off, but Catherine shot him a look and he let the paramedic take a look at his own injuries.

So far the paramedics had been quietly assessing Steve's injuries, until one blurted out.

"His pressure is dropping. We need to move him now!" Danny pushed the paramedic away and went to Steve's side. He gripped his hand and walked with him. The paramedics tried to tell Danny that there was no room for him, but he shot them his best glare and they made room for him.

Catherine, Chin, Kono, Amber, and Grace, stood in shock as the ambulance raced away. Catherine was the first to recover. She pulled keys from her pocket and ran to Steve's truck. After realizing what she was doing, everyone else followed. They pulled in right next to the ambulance and caught a glimpse of Steve as he was rushed past. Danny stood by the still swinging doors. He turned and there were tears in his eyes.

"Danny..."

"They lost his pulse in the ambulance. He...I..." Catherine pulled him into a hug.

"You should go get yourself checked out." Danny nodded and followed a nurse in the opposite direction of Steve.

Thirty minutes later, Danny appeared, all cleaned up and bandaged.

"Any news?" Everyone shook their head. Danny sank into a chair, and Grace climbed into his lap.

"Danno, Is uncle Steve going to be ok?"

"I don't know, baby." Danny wrapped one arm around Grace and held Amber's hand with the other. He leaned in a whispered to her. "You don't have to stay." She looked into Danny's eyes.

"I'm not going anywhere." Danny gave her a small smile.

Minutes turned into hours and Catherine was slowly losing her cool. She fought back tears and tried to keep her legs from bouncing. She was about to go hound a nurse, when a doctor emerged from the double doors. He had some blood on his scrubs and appeared tired.

"Family of Commander McGarrett." They all stood and waited for the news.

_To Be Continued _


	2. Chapter 2

"Family of Commander Steve McGarrett?" Everyone stood and waited for the doctor to talk. The doctor cleared his throat and began. "Commander McGarrett had a piece of shrapnel in his lower chest. It pierced his left lung. There was multiple other internal bleedings. It was touch and go, but he made it off the table. I'm going to be honest with you. He is not doing well. He hasn't shown any signs of waking and he is on a ventilator." The doctor took a deep breath and fought back tears. "I don't think he is going to make it." The doctor turned to leave, but Danny followed.

"Hey, Doc?" The Doctor turned and looked at Danny. "Tell me everything about Steve's condition." The doctor sighed.

"The shrapnel did a great deal of damage to his lung. We didn't want to remove the lung, so we repaired as much as we could. He lost a ton of blood, that we are trying to replenish right now. Because he is not showing signs of waking, I'm afraid that he might have slipped into a comma." Danny blinked back tears.

"Do you think he can wake up from this?" The doctor shook his head.

"I'm afraid his chances are very slim." A tear slipped down the doctor's face and he wiped it away quickly. "The commander is a good man." Danny nodded.

"Best man I've ever met." Danny looked back at the doctor. "Do you know Steve?"

"Yeah, I was in the NAVY before I was working as a surgeon. The commander saved my life, multiple times. He never thought about his own well being. I wouldn't be here if it weren't for him. Now his life is in my hands and I feel helpless." Danny placed a hand on the doctor's shoulder.

"He'll pull through, because he's stubborn and likes to do the opposite of what people say." Danny went to walk away, but stopped and turned back to the doctor. "Thank you, Doc. I know you did everything you could. Now it's up to him." Danny walked back to the waiting room and the doctor made his way to his office.

Danny followed the nurse to Steve's room. He hesitated before going in. He pushed the door open slowly and entered the small room. Danny's eyes landed on the form in front of him. Steve's large frame, looked small on the hospital bed. Tubes and wires were connected to him, the only things that were keeping the man alive. Danny sank into a chair and grabbed Steve's hand. Tears filled his eyes.

"You listen here McGarrett. You are not allowed to die on me. You need to be here. Who's going to drive my car if you're not here? Who is going to put me in dangerous situations? Who is going to be my best friend?" Tears rolled down Danny's cheeks. "You need to pull through. As much as you annoy me...My life wouldn't be complete without you in it. Steve, I know that you can beat this, I know that you can pull through and come back. Please fight. OK Super SEAL? Fight with all you have, because I am not going to let you die." Danny stood and let Steve's hand go. More people were waiting to see Steve. Danny glanced back as he left the room. Steve remained motionless and it broke Danny's heart.

Chin pushed open the door and sank into the chair next to the bed. He sat in silence for a moment.

"You are a good man and you don't deserve this. You deserve many more years of life. If I could, I would trade places with you in a heartbeat." Chin leaned back in his chair. "You turned my whole life around." Tears rolled down Chin's face. "I need you to live so I can repay you for everything you have done for me." Chin stood slowly. "You are my Ohana and I can not lose you." Chin left the room and motioned for Kono to go. She stood and made her way to the room.

"Boss, I know you're in there and I know that you're going to make it. But there is also this little part inside me that thinks that you might not. Losing you would tear the whole team apart. Nothing will be the same. You are the glue that keeps us together." Kono grabbed Steve's limp hand. "Get better boss." Kono kissed Steve's forehead and then left.

Catherine sat in the chair, just watching the rise and fall of Steve's chest. She knew that the machine was making him breath and that those weren't his real breaths, but he was still alive. Her tears had dried up hours ago. The beeping of the heart monitor kept the room from growing too silent.

A really loud beeping woke Catherine up. She sat up confused, when had she fallen asleep? Doctors and nurses flooded the room and pushed Catherine outside. She heard someone call for a crash cart. Tears sprung to her eyes. She watched as they charged the paddles.

"Charging 300...Clear!"

_to be continued _


	3. Chapter 3

"Charging...300...Clear..." Steve's body convulsed. The doctor watched the monitor. "Charging...350...Clear..." Steve's body bounced again and all eyes were on the monitor. On beep and then another and another. "BP back to normal. We got a regular heart beat." The doctor placed his hand on Steve's shoulder. "Don't quit on me Commander." The doctor had the nurses push the crash cart out of the room and turned to Catherine. "I'm going to order a MRI so we can check for any internal bleeds that we may have missed. You can sit with him until it is time. Catherine nodded and resumed her place next to Steve's bed. A few minutes later nurses came a ushered her out of the room. She made her way back to the waiting room. Danny shot to his feet when he saw her tear streaked face.

"What happened?"

"He crashed, but he's good now." Catherine wiped away a stray tear. "They're checking for anymore internal bleeding." Danny pulled her into a hug.

"He'll make it. He's too stubborn to let himself die."

Steve felt as if he were as light as a feather. He could feel the warm sun on his back and the sand between his toes, he opened his eyes and was standing on the beach with all of his friends. Kono and Chin had Grace in the water, trying to get her to stand on a beach board and Danny was hovering by protectively. He felt a small hand slip into his and looked over to see Catherine smiling up at him. He smiled back and took a drink of his beer, only his beer had no taste. He pulled it back from his lips in confusion. Only then did he realized that it was a memory. It faded to black and when he could see again he was sitting on a old couch. He looked up and saw his parents slow dancing in the middle of the living room. Again everything faded to black and Steve realized that his life was flashing before his eyes.

"No, I'm not ready to go!" He stayed surrounded by darkness.

"It is not your time son." Steve spun around, but could not see a thing.

"Dad?"

"Listen, you are in a coma and if you don't wake soon you will die."

"How do I wake up?"

"Fight."

"But how?"

"Think of the future and not the past and surely in time you will pass."

"What is that supposed to mean? Dad! DAD!" Steve spun in circles trying to find his dad, but it was no use. Steve pondered the riddle. "If I focus on the future and not the past then I should wake up." Steve started imagining him and Catherine getting married and starting a family. He imagined Danny marring again and Grace growing up and going off to college. He imagined Chin being promoted and Kono finally being happy. White light and warmth surrounded him. When he opened his eyes, all he saw was bright lights. He blinked a few times and the lights didn't seem son bright and he could see black spot on what looked like a ceiling. He could hear a beeping to his right. He blinked a few times and then a figure appeared in his line on vision.

"Hello Commander. I am Dr. Mathews. I am going to remove your breathing tube ok? Blink twice if you understand." Steve blinked twice. "Ok, when I tell you I need you to cough." Steve blinked twice. " OK cough." Steve coughed and the doctor pulled out the breathing tube. He handed Steve a cup of water. "Do you remember what happened?"

"Um...there was an explosion and we were trapped. I had shrapnel in my chest."

"Yea, it was very touch and go for a while, but you woke up and are on the road to recovery."

"How long?"

"You've been in a coma for a month." Steve's eyes went wide.

"Your team is going to be very happy to see. I'll go get them." Dr. Mathews walked out of Steve's room and into the waiting room. Just as he expected, the entire group was there. He walked over to them.

"I need you to come with me right away." He turned to leave and heard everyone rising and hurrying after him.

"Is Steve ok? Did something happen?" the doctor stopped in front of Steve's door.

"Why don't you see for yourself." The door was pushed open and Chin, Kono, Danny, and Catherine piled in. They all met the sea blue eyes of Commander Steve McGarett.


End file.
